The Food Safety Infosheet from the Food Safety Network also deals with pet food this week. Click on the infosheet or this link to be taken to the Food Safety Network Infosheet Web site.
Previously, the New York Department of Health isolated Aminopterin, a derivative of folic acid, from recalled pet food. Aminopterin can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats, leading to death. According to a press release:
The Food Laboratory received the pet food samples from a toxicologist at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, where testing has been underway to try to identify the cause of kidney failure in dogs and cats that consumed the recalled brands of pet food. At Cornell’s request, the Food Laboratory tested the samples for poisons and toxins, and identified Aminopterin in the pet food samples at a level of at least 40 parts per million.
ABC News reported that Aminopterin is a rodenticide, or rat poison:
ABC News has learned that investigators have determined that a rodent-killing chemical is the toxin in the tainted pet food that has killed several animals.
A source close to the investigation tells ABC News that the rodenticide, which the source says is illegal to use in the United States, was on wheat that was imported from China and used by Menu Foods in nearly 100 brands of dog and cat food.